ith
scientific culture, and even to teach the sensibilities of the wholly
uninstructed observer. The profound investigations of the chemist into
the ultimate constitution of material nature, the minute researches of
the physiologist into the secrets of animal life, the transcendental
logic of the geometer, clothed in a notation, the very sight of which
terrifies the uninitiated,--are lost on the common understanding. But
the unspeakable glories of the rising and the setting sun; the serene
majesty of the moon, as she walks in full-orbed brightness through the
heavens; the soft witchery of the morning and the evening star; the
imperial splendors of the firmament on a bright, unclouded night; the
comet, whose streaming banner floats over half the sky,--these are
objects which charm and astonish alike the philosopher and the peasant,
the mathematician who weighs the masses and defines the orbits of the
heavenly bodies, and the untutored observer who sees nothing beyond the
images painted upon the eye.

WHAT IS AN ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY?

An astronomical observatory, in the general acceptation of the word, is
a building erected for the reception and appropriate use of astronomical
instruments, and the accommodation of the men of science employed in
making and reducing observations of the heavenly bodies. These
instruments are mainly of three classes, to which I believe all others
of a strictly astronomical character may be referred.

1. The instruments by which the heavens are inspected, with a view to
discover the existence of those celestial bodies which are not visible
to the naked eye (beyond all comparison more numerous than those which
are), and the magnitude, shapes, and other sensible qualities, both of
those which are and those which are not thus visible to the unaided
sight. The instruments of this class are designated by the general name
of Telescope, and are of two kinds,--the refracting telescope, which
derives its magnifying power from a system of convex lenses; and the
reflecting telescope, which receives the image of the heavenly body upon
a concave mirror.

2d. The second class of instruments consists of those which are designed
principally to measure the angular distances of the heavenly bodies from
each other, and their time of passing the meridian. The transit
instrument, the meridian circle, the mural circle, the heliometer, and
the sextant, belong to this class. The brilliant